ALERT: New Tool Can Discover Credit Card Number in 6 Seconds

A group of researchers recently figured out how to obtain credit card information, such as the card number, expiration date and security code, for debit or credit cards in as little as six seconds.

Experts from the United Kingdom’s Newcastle University have reported that by using guesswork, hackers could use a “Distributed Guessing Attack” to get around security features to also obtain credit card information.

Experts said this type of hack was “frighteningly easy” to do with nothing but a laptop and an internet connection.

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According to a study published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and shared by Newcastle University, hackers could use computers to verify the correct card number, expiration date and the three-digit security number on the back of the card within seconds.

Researchers Mohammed Aamir Ali, Budi Arief, Martin Emms and Aad van Moorsel also thought it was possible for their tool to guess ZIP codes and address information. Additionally, hackers could match location data with issuing banks to find out where different cards were used. If the site didn’t require a ZIP code, hackers could run a simple program to get card information.

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“This sort of attack exploits two weaknesses that on their own are not too severe but, when used together, present a serious risk to the whole payment system,” Ali said, reported the U.K. Telegraph.

The team also discovered that neither the credit card network nor the relevant banks could to detect attackers making multiple invalid attempts to get payment card data, the university reported.

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MasterCard wasn’t as susceptible to this kind of attack because its system shuts down cards after 100 attempts. However, Visa cards didn’t have such a protocol in place.

Emms said there was no quick and easy fix to this vulnerability.

He suggested using one card for all online purchases and keeping the spending limit on that card as low as possible. He also suggested keeping funds to a minimum when using a bank card and transferring money to that account as needed.

He also urged credit card users to check their statements often and look out for for odd transactions.

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if you needed more reasons to be diligent and check your credit card records, this is it.